U.S. patent application Nos. 116,200 and 116,294, both filed by L. A. Hill and M. E. Jacobs, Nov. 3, 1987 and entitled "Disposable Development Station Having Means for Assisting in the Feeding of the Toner Supply and Preventing Replenishment of the Toner Supply" and "Disposable Development Station for Low Cost Copier or Printer" disclose a disposable device for developing electrostatic images. The device includes a housing divided into two chambers by a center wall. One chamber is a supply chamber for holding a supply of dry toner. The other chamber is a development chamber for mixng the toner with a carrier and applying it to a moving electrostatic image. The center wall has an opening in its bottom to provide access between the two chambers. A feed member is located generally in the opening and is rotatable to transport toner from the supply chamber to the development chamber. One wall of the supply chamber is slanted to urge toner to the feed member under the force of gravity.
Unfortunately, toner does not readily stay in its finely divided particulate shape. It has a tendency to agglomerate and cake, especially in certain conditions of temperature and humidity. If the device is disposable, it is also the storing container for the toner prior to use in a machine, a fact which greatly contributes to the tendency of the toner to cake.
In the structure described in the aforesaid application, toner is urged against the feed member by the addition of a hinged plate which is placed on top of the toner after it has been loaded into the toner supply chamber. The plate urges the toner against the feed member and increases the continuity of the toner fed to the development chamber to a certain extent. However, some caking and agglomeration persist, despite the plate.